Dan Melson: June 2012 Archives

Attaching labels like "extremist" "right wing" "left wing" "conservative" and "liberal" does not convey any factual information, not any reasons why the object of said derision is bad or wrong. If the only argument someone can come up with against a proposal or individual is by applying one of these labels, a more accurate and more honest English-to-English translation would be "I don't like it".

Most worthwhile thinkers and leaders throughout history have been labelled "extremist", often with some justice. That doesn't mean they were wrong, or that their ideas wouldn't work better than anyone else. Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Luther, among many others, were labelled "extremists" and similar epithets in their lifetimes - but every one of them made a positive difference in the world. The way to tell the good people and good ideas from the bad, sick, or twisted is ruthless examination of what what they do and the consequences of those ideas - not by labeling them with something that merely means you'd rather they didn't get a fair evaluation.

I am so sick of seeing this ad hominem used as if it's some kind of rational argument instead of the weakest most easily spotted fallacy there is.

I had one of those 24 hour health care appointments last night and today. Unfortunately, no internet was available. This was the first chance I had to get online.

Barring nuclear armageddon or similar disasters, there will be an article tomorrow